Zero To Hero: The story of a cricketer

This is a story about renowned cricketer Ben Stokes’s rise from the ashes. How he went from being the most hated player of his country to the most loved. The people who burnt his posters earlier now take selfies with him. The people who disrespected his mother, now want a son like him. Instead of losing hope due to the hate, he decided to work harder and prove himself to the world, and today he is an inspiration for the whole cricketing fraternity. 

 

Going down the memory lane to 2016 T20 World cup, everyone remembers Champions West Indies and their march towards victory. Cricket lovers will never forget the final match hosted at Kolkata. West Indies team needed 24 runs in the last over, and Carlos Braithwaite wreaked havoc by hitting the first 4 balls of the penultimate over to 4 sixes. Thus, winning the match with 2 balls to spare. The whole Caribbean country was overjoyed. The whole cricketing world was busy congratulating the Windies, but no one noticed a broken 24-year-old player. The bowler who had bowled the last over and got beaten for 4 consecutive sixes, Benjamin Andrew Stokes.

The English player who was serving his country with pride the whole tournament, got severe backlash and hate just for the solitary over. He was abused, his posters were burnt, his family was bullied, and sadly reporters stormed in and troubled his old mother, but the Durham based cricketer remained unperturbed (undisturbed). His statement in an interview, "It will be a little bit of motivation to make sure this does not ever happen again. So, train 10 minutes longer every now and again to get better" proves this.

Thus, instead of getting shattered by the criticism he worked on himself, improved himself and his hard work bore fruits as he was bought for a whopping 14.5 crores in 2017 IPL auction. In the process setting the record for the most expensive foreign buy till then, and in the season, he proved he was worth the money as he was named the most valuable player for all-round display in the tournament.

But the happiness was short-lived as he was caught in a brawl. Where he was seen punching a man on his face aggressively.  He was arrested and then also banned from playing for a few months, but he proved the court that he did it to protect two others, and was released and he resumed playing.

 

The upcoming year in 2018, he was again the most expensive buy in IPL bagging 12.5 crores for the tournament. Thus, he went on a carnage in the sport, winning games for England and his franchises.

 

And then came the World Cup 2019, a chance for Ben stokes to redeem his 2016 defamation, and as you all may know, he grabbed this opportunity with both his hands. Chasing a target of 242 in the finals, England were reduced to 86/4 in 23 overs. Then Stokes went on to play a classy knock, but the wickets kept tumbling at the other side. But he kept the game alive till the last over. It ended in a tie. Ben stokes was unbeaten at 84*. He then came for the super over too, hitting 8 runs in 3 balls helped England win the 2019 world cup and Ben Stokes registered himself in cricket history.

The same people who abused him and hated him, now thanked him and put appreciation posts. He was the hero for whole of Britain.

But the World cup winner didn't stop there. He went on to win the Ashes series 2019 single-handedly for England. Chasing 359 in the last innings of the test match, England were 141/3 when stokes came to bat, and wickets kept rolling at the non-striker’s end. The scorecard read 286/9 the match was all but gone, Australia just needed one wicket to win the game. But Stokes’s single-handedly took England towards the victory. He scored a 135 not out.

Ben Stokes celebrating the Ashes victory

The story of Ben Stokes teaches us a lot.

Instead of replying to the criticism and hate, he let his work speak. Although it took time, his works did speak volumes, As know he is one of the best all-rounders in the cricket history.